


Fall

by darkhorseoftwilight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Major Character Injury, Pidge freaking out, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 11:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkhorseoftwilight/pseuds/darkhorseoftwilight
Summary: She had been prepared to die when the robeast exploded. A decision made in the heat of the moment for the greater good was easy to do. But falling to her doom with plenty of time to think it over was not something she was ready for.
Kudos: 42





	Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Set at the end of season 7 right after the final fight with Honerva's robeast.

The green lion was plummeting to the Earth at around 100km per second.

The robeast had exploded with a force unlike anything they had seen, sending out a shockwave that hit the Paladins like a freight train. The blast had rocked her lion. Green’s shielding taking the brunt of the impact and driving the lion off line. The force had nearly knocked Pidge unconscious, leaving her dizzy and dazed. It had taken her a few minutes to realize that the impact and the gravitational pull of the Earth had thrown all five lions into a free fall straight to the surface. 

Pidge watched the flames lick up around Green with slowly increasing consciousness as they entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The shielding and thickness of the hull worked to keep most of the heat at bay but the air in the cabin flared up in temperature that would easily become uncomfortably hot. 

She found herself lifting off the pilot seat and floating toward the view screen. She pushed herself back firmly into her seat realizing with a sinking feeling that the internal gravity generator must be offline. 

The internal gravity of the lions kept the paladins in their seats without the need for seatbelts and kept everything inside the lion from flying around during a fight. It also negated most of the brunt of sudden impacts from blasters and other objects hitting the lions or when the lions hit other things. Sometimes it would get knocked offline and then everything would be free floating or flying through the air depending on the situation. It usually meant bruises and other fun injuries. In this case, if the internal gravity was out then bruises would be the least of her concerns. With the speed at which she was falling she would be lucky to live through the impact. 

She had been prepared to die when the robeast exploded. A decision made in the heat of the moment for the greater good was easy to do. But falling to her doom with plenty of time to think it over was not something she was ready for. 

Pidge jammed at the controls trying desperately to get her lion back online. 

“Come on! Green, please! Come on!” She frantically pushed forward on the controls and hit the launch buttons hoping for some sign of life from her lion but the display remained dark. “Hunk! Kieth! Allura! Lance! Can anyone hear me? Please come in,” she yelled into the comms but only the sound of the falling lion replied. “Atlas! Anyone? No, no, no!”

The lion was falling backward which meant that instead of getting a view of the Earth rising up to meet her she watched as the darkness of space was swallowed by the daylight and a sky looming larger and larger. She didn’t know if it was better to not know when the impact was or if she wished she could see it coming. 

The flames had receded enough to see the full panorama of the cockpit view. With the angle she was falling she could see the other lions in the distance. Yellow and Blue were to the far right and left slightly lower than she was. They would be hitting before her. Red and Black were straight ahead and still a bit higher than her. She couldn’t tell from her angle which of them would hit last. 

She wondered if any of her friends were awake and thinking the same thoughts or if they had been knocked out by the explosion. The ones that were would be lucky to not know what was coming. 

“Please!” Jamming at the controls one more time Pidge gave up with a sob. 

“It’s okay girl. You did good. We saved Earth. We did it together. You did good.” Pidge whispered, talking just as much to herself as she was to her lion.

The ground was starting to come into view along the edges of the cockpit window. She had faced down death so many times since coming into space but somehow this one looming in front of her was the worst. 

She was so close. So close to being home with her family. 

They had made it to Earth. She had found her family and saved the world. All she needed was Matt and everything would be whole once again. But now that was gone. She would die here alone in her lion with no contact with anyone. 

It wasn’t fair. To save everything only to lose it immediately after. 

“Mom, Dad, Matt, I’m sorry,” she whispered as tears slid down her cheeks. 

She tried not to think about what the impact was going to do to her body without the lion’s internal gravity intact. Unfortunately, the analytical part of her brain that never shut up was listing out all the possibilities in vivid detail. 

Shattered bones. Internal bleeding. Traumatic brain injury. And that was in the likelihood that Green’s massive hull and internal shielding would take enough of the force to keep her from dying instantly. Luckily, she thought with a wry laugh, terminal velocity meant that Green would be slowing down as they got closer to the ground.

More of the ground was coming into view and she could see the smoking outline of the Garrison quadrant. By this point the other lions were far enough away that they looked like colorful comets rocketing toward the ground. 

From the corner of her eye she could see from the angle of the Garrison that Hunk was about to impact somewhere near the Galra base. She turned her head to watch him as her lower lip trembled. 

“Hunk…” 

He disappeared from her view but the impact caused an explosion of dirt and debris that flew up high enough for her to see. 

She turned her head to the right just in time to see the blue glow of Allura’s lion disappear into the water with a spray likely to cause a tsunami. 

The outline of the Atlas suddenly came into view so small in the distance and unmoving. She sent a silent prayer that her friends and family on board were safe. With the Atlas out of commission any hope of a timely rescue was pretty much gone. Her eyes caught sight of the red and purple glow of the two remaining lions off in the distance. She whispered a solemn goodbye.

She was next. She knew any second now the ground would be there to meet her. Relax or brace for impact? What was it they said? Did it even matter? 

Brace for impact, she decided. 

Pidge stretched out her legs and braced them against the console. She shoved backward pushing herself firmly into her seat. Gripping the edge of the seat tightly and pressing her head against the headrest she waited. 

She had tried to remain calm. To keep her panic at bay but the longer it took the shorter her breaths became. 

Moments in time seemed to flash before her eyes. Pastel fluff balls helping her build a satellite on Green’s back. Gathering GAC with Lance in the fountain. Arguing with Hunk over tech. Hugging her dad and her brother when they were finally all reunited. 

The sound around her intensified as she got closer to the ground. Roaring in her ears like standing next to a jet engine. 

Here it comes. 

When Green hit it was like time slowed down.

She watched in slow motion as the trees rushed past her thinking it poetic that she would crash in the forest. 

The impact forced her and everything in the cockpit backward. Fragments of the cockpit floated past her like fireflies flashing in the night.

The viewing window grew dark with a debris cloud that was kicked up and it felt like being weightless in space for one blissful moment. 

And just like that, time caught up. 

Pain bloomed like flowing lava across her back and down her limbs. She could feel the crunching sound of her own bones that merged with the crunching of the greenery she was crashing into. All the air was forced from her lungs while her jaw clamped down painfully hard until it felt like all her teeth were going to crack. 

The lion flipped sideways jarring already painful injuries and causing her legs to come loose from their braced position to fling out in front of her in a way that would have been comical in any other situation. Her head slammed into the wall of the cockpit, hard enough to send a crack down the visor. There was a loud pop as her shoulder dislocated from the joint. She sucked in a lungful of air only to choke it out when the pain from broken ribs stabbed through her. 

Metal groaned and creaked around her as the huge lion finally came to a stop.

The only sensation she knew was pain. Everything hurt and there was a loud ringing in her ears. Her head throbbed and with each pulse darkness started creeping in further along the edges of her vision. 

She had ended up draped over the side console with the corner of it digging into her hip. Trying to move only caused the pain to flare even more and the cockpit spun in and out of focus precariously. 

Not going anywhere for a while apparently. 

Pidge took in one more shuddering breath before the darkness overwhelmed her. 

~~~~

Something soft pulled Pidge from the darkness. A hand was caressing her head. It felt nice. She wanted to see who it was but her eyes just wouldn’t open. Vaguely she could hear voices talking though the throbbing in her head and the ringing in her ears made it hard to make out what they were saying. 

“…incredible….”

“… shouldn’t be alive but….” 

“…careful not to move….”

Pidge groaned when a hand brushed over one of her ribs.

“Katie?”

She recognized that voice. That voice was cuddles and hot chocolate and proud smiles. 

“…mom….?” She tried again to open her eyes and was able to make out blurry shapes moving around her. Something was digging into her hip and she realized it was because she was still laying over the damn console. She shifted slightly and gasped at the pain the tiny movement caused. Several pairs of hands were on her then keeping her still. 

“Don’t move, sweetie. It’s going to be okay.” Pidge could make out the worry that sat on the edge of her mother’s comforting words. She could hear at least two other voices listing out the various injuries and broken bones she had but it was hard to focus enough to keep track of what they were saying. 

“Atlas, this is ground unit 4. We have the Green Paladin. She’s alive. We’re bringing her home.” Rizavi’s loud voice startled her but the last word stuck with her. 

Home.

Pidge had never felt more joy at a single word before this moment. She let herself relax into her mom’s touch as darkness started rolling back in. She didn’t try to fight it this time. 

She’d made it. She’d survived.

Finally, she was going home.


End file.
